Declining cotton production last season has led to prices rising year-on-year, according to Mintec's latest textile index. Yet, U.S. production in the current season is likely to rise by 25 percent and reduce pressure on prices.

A new procurement framework focuses on speed and expertise to help scientists fight public health emergencies such as an outbreak of Ebola or Zika. The new public health microbiology diagnostic framework will enable flexibility, speed and innovation in the development of cutting edge diagnostics and treatment tools, according to Public Health England (PHE), the statutory body that exists to improve the nation's health. PHE also expects it to generate savings on regular spend.

More than a quarter of all goods traded between the UK and Europe, worth around £91.4bn ($113.82bn) a year, come through the Channel Tunnel, a report has found. In its report, "Economic Footprint of the Channel Tunnel Fixed Link," Ernst & Young found that 30 percent of UK exports, worth £43.6bn ($54.3bn), and 22 percent of imports, worth £47.8bn ($59.53bn), to and from the EU depend on the tunnel.

An $8bn acquisition may turn Samsung into a major supplier to the automotive industry. The South Korean smartphone manufacturer has entered into a definitive agreement with Harman International Industries, a market-leading maker of connected-car components, to buy the firm for $112 per share in cash.

Supply chain managers are facing a new wave of impediments to the flow of goods across borders, said John Glen, economist for the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, as the latest CIPS Risk Index continued to climb to levels not seen since 2013.

Business secretary Greg Clark has said the UK government will approach Brexit negotiations with the aim of achieving tariff-free access to EU markets for the automotive industry. This was among the assurances he gave to Nissan before the automaker announced the next Qashqai and X-Trail models would be built in Sunderland, the UK's biggest car plant, Clark said.